I’m not a person who likes to spend time with a coloring book. I may have some ornate bones in my body, but they are likely broken in multiple places. When I first heard about Chicory I was skeptical because Chicory not only looks like an animated coloring book, but its main mechanics are focused on using a magic brush to paint a black and white world. But within minutes, this inventive little gem won me over. Chicory may look like a coloring book, but it’s basically a Zelda-inspired adventure full of humorous dialogues and weighty topics that made me a little glassy.
Chicory takes place in a charming little animal village called Picnic, where everyone is named after food. Everything seems fine in the land of Picnic until a dark, malevolent force emerges and all colors suddenly disappear from the world. Unfortunately, Picnics Brush Wielder, who is responsible for keeping the place alive, locked herself in a tower, leaving the world without a savior. It takes until the caretaker of the Wielders – a young, anthropomorphic puppy – “borrows” her master’s magic brush and goes on an adventure to bring the world back to order. This absurd premise turns into a captivating adventure thanks to Chicory’s clever dialogue and the wealth of charming, idiosyncratic characters like a junk-obsessed hoarder and a cat who can’t stop adopting new children. At certain points, Chicory’s story even touches on serious subjects like imposter syndrome, and my little puppy’s intimate adventure drew my heart more than once.
As you travel through Picnic, you will paint every object you see to add color to the world. I’ve had the easiest time using a PC mouse to control the brush, but a controller’s right analog stick does the job well enough. I also appreciate the number of painting tools that are available to me. Not only can you customize your brush size and color, but you can also hold down the paint button to quickly fill in the background and use preset brush styles to stamp shapes into the world. Most of the time you are limited to just three colors, which made me long for a wider range of colors. Fortunately, you don’t have to recolor the whole world if you don’t want to get caught up in this system. Even so, I found it a very cool, Zen-like experience when I sat down to experiment with Chicory’s painting mechanics.
While changing the color of the world is a constant but fun side activity, I spent most of my time in Chicory interacting with the citizens of Picnic and solving puzzles. From drawing a new logo for a pizzeria to exploring an underground city full of vermin to repainting a house for an indecisive animal, I was always surprised by the depth of experience that Chicory drew from his painting mechanics. Most of the Chicory puzzles involve painting certain objects in order to influence the world. For example, some plants explode when you paint them, so you can use them to destroy boulders that are blocking your path. Along the way, you’ll also get a handful of clever new brush powers to help you navigate the world better. I particularly liked the ability to swim through my paint, which allowed me to squeeze through tiny spaces and reach areas cleared out of the way.
Surprisingly, Chicory has no combat mechanics, so you don’t have to fend off armies of thugs with your brush while exploring. I really appreciated this approach to gameplay and didn’t miss the fight; Chicory’s world is so interesting to explore that I was halfway through the game before I even realized it was missing a combat mechanic. The only exception is Chicory’s boss encounters. During these events you will have to dodge a series of attacks while using your brush to add color to the boss. I appreciate how these fights increase the pace, but it was hard to keep track of my brush and character at the same time; Controlling both felt like trying to rub my stomach while patting my head. Fortunately, these encounters aren’t difficult, and if you die, pick up where you left off (you can even turn off the option to die in the options menu).
I got into Chicory a bit dubious, but it exceeded my expectations with flying colors. The world and its inhabitants are a delight, their puzzles stay clever throughout the journey, and their main painting mechanic is the perfect stress reliever. Chicory taught me never to judge a coloring book by its cover and that you don’t have to be a master painter to enjoy colors.